NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lylandra" data-source="post: 9683840" data-attributes="member: 6816692">Session 64Tempest risingAfter the Leviathan finally stills, an uneasy calm settles over the chamber. Then, without warning, a sharp buzzing breaks the silence. Sleek, chitinous dragonflies emerge from somewhere behind the fleshy walls, their translucent wings slicing the air like knives. In one shadow-drenched corner, a sinewy tentacle begins to writhe upward, its surface slick with mucus. And then, near the exit, the figure of Sijhen appears. He looks down on us from a position of superiority. His unnatural, alien eyes flick over each of us, measuring, calculating, while all that what we can read from his face appears to be both amusement and confidence that seems almost joyous. „So we finally meet again. And in person this time, it seems.“ Gabriel states dryly, while being ever vigilant of his surroundings. After all, none of us wants to see Sijhen escape without consequence again. “So,” Sijhen counters emotionless, “you still draw breath. Despite everything that happened in that northern city. Amusing. But I am not without patience, and I am willing to listen. After all... you appear to be talkers, right?” “Alright, let's make it quick, Sijhen. We have an offer for you: You and your Gidim have one last chance to leave our world and never return. Or we’ll show you what real nightmares look like.”, Gabriel replies, his voice carrying more and more serious gravitas with each word. When Sijhen appears to be even more amused by his very obvious threat, Auryn adds: “ You made a mistake underestimating us not once, but twice, Sijhen. I suggest you don’t do it a third time.”Sijhen seems unimpressed still. As we already thought, he doesn't seem to be too keen on simply leaving Ber, and instead wants to propose a counteroffer.“I know about your troubles with the Gyre. Your world will shatter if you don't find a solution to that maw in your sky. But we Gidim know a solution. You need new anchor points for your plane. Points that would whisk you away from this terrible, drifting position. And I possess a vortex array—a navigation device attuned to the tides of the planes. With it, I could guide you. Help you find new worlds. Stability.”“And the price?” Auryn asks.Something that can be interpreted as a smile appears on Sijhen's face. “Simple. You give me Ursalina. And you permit the Gidim to establish a permanent link to this realm.” He gestures to the immense, twitching tentacle that looms like a tower of muscle and madness. “A small sacrifice for such a reward.”Of course, we see through his trick at once: he wants to take advantage of our absence so that the Gidim can feast on our world's  inhabitants. In the worst case, we would return to a world full of hiveminds and horror scenarios, just like we've seen in Ursalina, but on a large scale. And even giving up Ursalina, one city, would be beyond bargaining material.“You can’t be serious,” Auryn hisses, stepping forward, her hand on her rapier. “You think we’d just let your 'hive' infest our home while we’re gone with you?”, Gabriel adds, entering a stance ready for combat as well.“Do you truly believe,” Sijhen replies with cool demeanor, “that your world is safe as it is? With me and the Gidim as an ally, it could thrive. You and I could become shepherds of a new, evolved order.”“You start to sound an awful lot like Nicodemus. But I suppose that comes with allusions of grandeur. So should you not have something more acceptable to offer, I fear that this conversation is over”, Gabriel states, drawing his kukris.Sijhen in return orders his beasts (and the tentacle) to attack and puts the ship into a state where teleportation is no longer possible.We brace ourselves against the upcoming onslaught as best we can, even though our movement is very restricted.(yep, that is actually one of the best countermeasures against our characters, especially against Carlyle, who uses lots of teleportation and ethereal powers) The dragonflies dive at us in sharp, zigzagging patterns, their wings humming like a swarm of giant mosquitos. Auryn is the first to act, her form blurs, fractures as she calls upon the aspects of Srasama. Auryn splits into three aspects, while Gabriel uses ethereal powers and the power of time. Gabriel closes his eyes, just for a second, and then his form shimmers as he calls upon his time powers. He sidesteps a diving insect a heartbeat before it moves. Then a surge of ethereal power flares from his hand, tearing through a cluster of dragonflies like spectral wind. Thus we get rid of the flying dragonflies while fleeing from the tentacle anchored to the ground, running straight into the next room. There we see various tubes in which altered Berans seem to be located. Fortunately (or unfortunately?), they are still alive, even if we cannot take care of them at the moment.In front of the entrance to the next room, we see fog in which several creatures are located. As we take a closer look, we see more Berans, their once-proud forms are now twisted, and this time, they are not suspended in tubes. Instead, they are grotesquely alive. And since we don't want to kill them, we agree to knock them unconscious instead. Auryn’s aspects fan out to whirl through the poor creatures like dancers, while Gabriel moves like a phantom, disarming and disabling. One by one, the altered Berers collapse, unconscious. Just like we planned.After that, we see more creatures. But this time, they are real monstrosities. It is “true” Gidim who attack us with their psychic powers. We also take them out of action after a relatively short time of actual combat.But then, in the room right in front of us us, something groans. A deep mechanical click. Then another.“Something’s been triggered, and from the sound of it, we might get some uninvited guests very soon. So better not waste too much time”, Gabriel mutters, as he quickly assesses the situation. We tend to our wounds and hurry as quickly as possible toward the next room, where creatures filled with electricity await us. Just as Gabriel foretold. It appears that they, too, have once been Berans, but now they are completely changed. Electricity arcs through coils embedded in their spines and limbs.Gabriel lowers his weapon. “This is no life. Not anymore. They are forced to fight for their enemies. Ending their misery would be mercy.”, he says full of pity. But then Auryn steps forward, shaking her head softly.“No,” she says gently. “They are not gone. Not completely. Do you remember the war bears? We had the chance to save those animals, and maybe we can save them as well. It is not up to us to decide their fate.”Light blossoms around her as her three aspects merge again. For a moment, she takes on the form of something more than mortal. Divine, terrible, but ultimately serene.(Overwhelming presence... one spell I truly love. Fortunately, it is only 6th level for bards)And then... the Berans stop.Some kneel. Others roar in defiance of their chains and charge past us, back toward the next room. Their rage is no longer directed at us, but at those who enslaved them.(that latter action was unexpected, but nonetheless welcome)We follow them towards the next, final room, which appears to be a kind of navigation room with another Gidim and eight images of Sijhen. On a central wall, symbols glow, unfamiliar but ominous. We understand that Sijhen must have started some kind of countdown as the hum of energy rises.Sijhen’s voice slithers across the air: “You are persistent. But this ends now.”“You’ll answer for what you’ve done,” Gabriel shouts toward him. “To the proud Beran people. To Ursalina. To every poor soul you’ve twisted.”And he doesn't wait, as his actions speak even louder than words. He leaps at the navigator-Gidim, his kukris moving much faster than the passage of time would normally allow. They clash in a burst of slashes and alien screeches. Meanwhile, Auryn covers the cloud of Sijhens with a fireball in the hope that its multiplying ability bears a similar weakness to Stanfield's back then. Her thought appears to be correct, as Sijhen seems to try to avoid the possible effects of area fire, as he reduces his number down to two, who in turn get off quite lightly. Auryn then moves between the two and starts to gradually wear them down.Gabriel and the Gidim navigator trade blow for blow in quick succession. Then, with a final pulse of temporal energy, Gabriel slips behind the creature’s guard and strikes—not to kill, but with just enough force to drop it unconscious.Across the chamber, Auryn is ablaze, hurling everything she got at Sijhen, trying to get the beast advantage out of the rampaging Berans who assault the Gidim as well. The two remaining Sijhen projections flicker and dance, trying to outmaneuver them. But with one last, searing slash, she finally cuts through his form and Sijhen drops to the ground.“You… don’t… stand a chance... without...me,” he gasps, his voice fracturing like his form.“We don't need you,” she says in return, stepping forward, radiant and calm. “We form our own chances. And this world is more resilient than you Gidim think.”Then, Sijhen's form begins to dissolve. Slowly at first, then entirely, as though the plane itself rejects him.As the humming doesn't stop though, we quickly assess the situation and conclude from a strange tablet that someone must have ordered some kind of self-destruction of the Leviathan. Gabriel is quick to react, as he recalls that the Gidim's whole existence is centered around thought. He closes his eyes and tries to attune to the Leviathan. A stillness falls over him as he mentally reaches out towards the mechanism. The connection flares, tentative at first, then solid. After a tense moment, the countdown finally halts. After we take a deep breath in relief, we turn to to Salome Nieves and explain that Ursalina is hopefully safe now. We then mention that we will take the Leviathan to Risur for examination, as we cannot risk it falling into the hands of the Obs. Destroying it would be an option, but after what we've learned from Sijhen, this thing might just bear the key to saving our world. Salome is just grateful to have made it through this madness alive and does not object to our plan.  ---Finally found some time to continue this <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />We're almost on the finishing line with 9 1/2 sessions left, so fingers crossed that this summer will offer more time for writing than last... year? So yeah, the next half of session 64 won't take too long and session 65 will take us onto a rather unexpected (and tragic) journey.</blockquote>

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